And you wonder why this state is deep in the red?
"At BRA, pair got extra $52,300 to do odd jobs; Officials are vague on staffers' duties" by Donovan Slack, Globe Staff | May 20, 2009
Not to minimize the robbery, but that's chump change.
Here is where the real money is: Governor Guts State Services
Pigs at the State Trough
A Slow Saturday Special: Statehouse Slush Fund
Hollywood S***s on Massachusetts
Biotech Giveaway Was Borrowed Money
How many times I gotta put 'em up?
It had been an irritant for far too long at Boston City Hall: when employees at the Boston Redevelopment Authority used a microwave in a ninth-floor hallway to heat their lunches, the smell of warming food wafted into nearby offices, creating a distraction for city planning officials.
So last fall, the agency decided to pay two of its staffers - both architectural model builders, who have few regular responsibilities - to construct a lunchroom where employees can heat and eat their food without disturbing others. The model builders, whose combined annual salary is $133,000, performed the work during off hours to avoid disruptions, collecting $4,400.
I've got a pile of something for you to smell!!!
It was only one of several odd jobs they performed last year while collecting overtime, according to a Globe review of payroll records. The records show the BRA paid them a total of $52,300 for after-hours work, including completing the lunchroom project, installing office shelving, creating displays for conventions, and even putting up a city-sponsored Christmas display at Downtown Crossing.
Sigh!
Now, as the agency is contemplating layoffs to help shrink a $300,000 budget deficit in the current fiscal year and another $3 million shortfall predicted next year, a top BRA official conceded he wished he had been more thrifty with the overtime.
Me, too:
One city watchdog, Jeffrey W. Conley, executive director of the Boston Finance Commission, said the large amount of overtime, nearly 40 percent more than the model makers' regular pay, is a questionable expense. He also questioned why the BRA needs two full-time model builders - particularly since developers typically produce their own mockups of proposed projects for planning officials.
Conley said the overtime is another example of lax fiscal management at the BRA. The Globe reported last month that the agency paid a former BRA official $162,000 last year - on top of his $98,000 pension - to work 25 hours per week as a consultant. "They definitely need more financial oversight," Conley said.
Also consider:
"I'm double dipping and I'm happy to be doing it," said Ralph Olsen, 62, who is finishing up his second year as principal of Durfee High School in Fall River and plans to return next school year. Olsen, who retired as Framingham High School principal in 2004, earns $87,311 a year in pension income and makes $140,000 a year in his new position....
Eugene Thayer... earns $192,000 a year as superintendent of Framingham schools.... His pension is worth an additional $85,000 a year"
This while teachers are being laid off and budgets cut.
BRA Director John Palmieri defended his fiscal management, saying the overtime expense for the model builders is relatively small, considering the BRA's overall budget of $17 million.
It DOESN'T MATTER! It is TAXPAYER DOLLARS!!!
You are supposed to be a STEWARD!
"Listen, we can always do a better job of saving money," Palmieri said. "But these are small expenses. We're a big operation."
This reminds me of the arrogance of the governor.
These guys never learn, do they?
He said he canceled the consulting contract with the former BRA official, Paul McCann, after the Globe story. And Palmieri said he relies on staff members to appropriately assess the need for the two full-time model makers. But BRA staff, in separate interviews, had difficulty providing a precise description of how the builders spend their regular working hours....
I'll give them a hint: LOOTING!
That's what PICKING UP a CHECK for NOTHING is!!!
Records show Hurley earned $73,800 in base salary and another $30,800 in overtime pay last year. Leblanc collected $59,000 in base pay and $21,500 in overtime.
I could live for ten years on one years salary.
The overtime included 797 hours spent creating an exhibit for a seafood show in February and upgrading the wooden replica of the city for a gathering of architects in May.
Why? Architects Abandoned
A total of 88 hours was spent on the lunch room and another 28 hours installing shelving and doing the work on Shen's office. Records show installation of the holiday decorations at Downtown Crossing took another 214 hours.
Seems a LITTLE LONG, doesn't it (gouge)!
The model makers did not obtain building permits for any of the work, something that Palmieri, the BRA director, said he couldn't defend.
WTF?!!!!!!
Shen, the chief planner, said he thought the agency was being fiscally responsible by having the work done by employees rather than outside contractors. "In this particular case," he said, "we were trying to be as economical as we could."
Pffft!
How 'too-pid do you think we are?!!!!
